Rafael Nadal has proposed to his girlfriend Mery Perello after 14 years of dating – and they’ve been secretly engaged for eight whole months.
The 32-year-old tennis champion, who this weekend missed out to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, popped the question to his long-term partner in May 2018, but they decided to keep the happy news to themselves.
Speaking to Spanish magazine Hola!, Rafa confirmed that he proposed to Mery, who also goes as Xisca, during a romantic holiday to Rome.
His girlfriend regularly travels the world to watch his tennis matches and cheer him on from the audience, and even supported him in Melbourne this month.
Speaking about the Australian Open before he lost the competition, Rafa said it had been great spending more of his down-time with Mery.
“I had chance to visit Sydney, I haven’t been there before. So I was knowing a little bit of the city and we enjoyed it. After ten years finally, my girlfriend gets a wildcard to come here,” he said.
The happy couple now plan to marry in an intimate ceremony on the Spanish isle of Mallorca – their hometown – later this autumn.